1950'S POSTERS

 

 

 

 

The World's Best Christmas Festivals
These celebrations from Indiana to Germany are loaded with holiday cheer

 

Photo Courtesy of Winter Wonderland Hyde Park
Winter Wonderland, Hyde Park, London

Londoners looking for a jolly good holiday time head to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, a Christmas festival featuring London's largest outdoor ice rink, an ice- and snow-sculpture display, a Christmas-themed Circus, a 200-foot-tall observation wheel, and Santa Land, filled with games, children's rides and even Santa's Factory.

The festival's Bavarian Village is another popular spot. There, visitors can experience a German-style Christmas market, complete
with mulled wine and Bratwurst.

Holiday shoppers can find unique gifts at the Yuletide Market or Angels Christmas Market, where they'll discover more than 150 vendors hawking handmade crafts and holiday decorations.
see more at:
http://weather.aol.com/2012/12/12/the-worlds-best-christmas-festivals/

 Wonderful Indian Circus Posters


byAndy Deemer
from:  huffingtonpost.com
12/12/2012
In the tiny Indian village of Shravanabelagola, there was something wonderful this past weekend. Wheat-pasted to every surface -- crumbling walls and old wooden shop doors -- amazingly bizarre posters for the Jumbo Circus.
I'm not a huge circus fan. It's not that I have moral qualms... frankly, it's my own fragility. The dust, the animal hair, the crowds... it's all too much for me. But, these posters were gorgeous. Never have I wanted to go to a circus more.

Garish neon colors slapped across dirty litho prints -- text in Kannada, in English, in various shades of awesome. A swarthy lad in kurta jubba pajamas and a rollercoaster chapeau vomits buckets of goldfish into a tiny tank. A blonde krasotka balances 15 hula hoops on her remarkable hips, almost like a bangle-trapped fairy, while tricolor cardboard fireworks pop behind her. Cricket-playing elephants port garlands to cartoon Shiva linga.

"You can not miss this show," these posters cried.
read more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-deemer/indian-circus-posters-photos_b_2278001.html

 

Sarasota Ballet Presents A Circus-Themed Nutcracker At Van Wezel

 

Sarasota Ballet presents John Ringling's "The Nutcracker" at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota and Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater this month.
Credit Frank Atura/Sarasota Ballet
Weekend Things, By Charles Schelle
sarasota.patch.com
Dec 13, 2012
Sarasota Ballet will present John Ringling's The Nutcracker at the Van Wezel on Friday and Saturday.
This circus-themed version is set to the traditional Tchaikovsky score and brings the fairy tale to audience in a very Sarasota fashion.
Performances are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and both shows include a pre-show dinner at 6:30 p.m. A Saturday 2 p.m. matinee also features a 11:30 a.m. circus-themed family lunch.
Pricing and ticket information can be found online at www.sarasotaballet.org  or call The Sarasota Ballet box office at (941) 359-0099 x101.

Silvers Circus Australia

143rd edition of circus starts in January in Tampa Bay

 

And pachyderm star Asia, is one of about 100 animals in the show. Asia is a 45-year-old Asian Elephant, the ringleader of nine female elephants that perform in the show
from:  baynews9.com
By Virginia Johnson, Entertainment Reporter
December 12, 2012 .
Welcome to The Greatest Show on The Earth! --
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey’s Circus is offering up their 143rd edition of the circus, Built to Amaze.

The show debuts on January 2-6, at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

The Bay area will see this new show first, thanks in part to the location of the circus’s winter quarters at the Florida State Fairgrounds.

The show will be constructed before the audience’s eyes, and will show off acts from around the world.

Director of Talent David Kiser is in charge of finding the next greatest performers, and most of the year on the road!

“I go to circus festivals, other circuses, athletic competitions," explained Kiser. "Sometimes I just go into the middle of town to watch street performers. We actually have performers from 17 different countries.”

But Kiser does not have to travel far for some of his talent.

Performers like Ivan Vargas have spent their life in the circus and in Tampa.

Vargas counts six generations of circus performers on his father’s side, and five on his mother’s.

“We learn everything," explained Vargas, “trapeze, high wire, the wheel, unicycling, we learn everything when you grow up in the circus, you’d be a fool not to learn things.”

Vargas is one of 110 human performers.
read more:
http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/on-the-town/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2012/12/12/_143rd_edition_of_ci.html

1942 CASTLE MOVIE

HSUS: Lawyers In Cages

ConsumerFreedomVideo

Published on Apr 20, 2012

The Humane Society of the United States is not affiliated with your local pet shelter, but ads imply that they are. You can find more information at http://www.HumaneWatch.org

 

Memorial for Scott Parker
Memorial Services for Scott Parker at the Showfolks Club

Scott's family is in Sarasota to plan his memorial service.

A memorial gathering will be held at the Showfolks Club on Thursday December 13th at 7 p.m.The club will open at 6:30 pm.
*************************************************
Pete Adams


Circus coming back to Lake George
by DON LEHMAN
from: poststar.com
Dec 11, 2012
LAKE GEORGE -- The Big Apple Circus is coming back to the village for a second summer, and has indicated it will seek a third engagement in 2014.

The circus, which had a two-week run at the former Gaslight Village property last July, has submitted a contract proposal to the village of Lake George and Warren County, seeking to use the same parcel again next July 13-28. The Gaslight Village park operations and management committee endorsed the proposal on Monday.

Mayor Bob Blais said the contract proposal is the same as the one agreed upon last summer, under which the circus paid $8,000 rent for the Gaslight property, then received $8,000 in occupancy tax funds from the town and village of Lake George and $15,000 from the county to pay for expenses, such as water hookups and sewage disposal.

Blais said attendance last summer wasn’t as good as the circus organizers had hoped, but the company believes in taking three years in a market to see if it is willing to commit long-term. Construction around the Gaslight Village site did not help, Blais said.

Phil Thurston, a spokesman for the New York City-based circus, said the organization was “happy with our run in Lake George” and was hopeful for a return.

“The welcome from the community has been outstanding,” Thurston said.

The circus, which brings a big top from location to location throughout the year, completely changes its show each year.

Officials said the municipalities and circus agreement in December should help its run next summer.

Michael Consuelo, president of the Lake George Chamber of Commerce, said the deal comes two months earlier this time around, and that will allow for more promotion at travel events.

“This is an ideal opportunity to promote the circus during our early travel shows,” Consuelo said.

The return engagement was viewed as a good sign for the municipally owned “festival space” and county and Lake George leaders are hoping that the circus will become an annual summer fixture once the park is fully developed.

Plans are to put a playground, performance area, skate park and other attractions on the West Brook Road site.

DOWN MEMORY LANE--

Gene Autry - Here Comes Santa Claus (1947)

"Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)" is a Christmas song written by Gene Autry and Oakley Haldeman. Autry got the idea for the song after riding his horse in the 1946 Santa Claus Lane Parade in Los Angeles, during which crowds of spectators chanted, "Here comes Santa Claus". This inspired him to write a song that Haldeman set to music. A demo recording was made by singer/guitarist Johnny Bond, whose recording made use of ice cubes to mimic the sound of the jingling sleigh-bells. This inspired the use of real sleigh-bells in Autry's own recording of the song.

CircEsteem 12th Annual Winter Circus showcases youth performers

 

By Shari Schmidt
from:  chicagonow.com
Dec 11, 2012
CircEsteem, Chicago’s largest youth circus, was featured at a recent Chicago Sinfonietta concert. This was the first time we ever saw this wonderful group of talented youth perform. This December 15 and 16, everyone can enjoy CircEsteem’s 12th Annual Winter Circus.

The Winter Circus will evoke chilly nights and sparkling snowfalls, while showcasing circus performers from 3-18 years old from beginner students through advanced performers troupe. CircEsteem is Chicago's largest youth circus with talents including acrobatics, trapeze, clowning, juggling and gym wheel (a.k.a the Human Hamster Wheel). Its mission is to unite youth from diverse racial, cultural, and economic backgrounds and helping them build self-esteem and mutual respect through the practice of circus arts is the guiding force behind this show.

This is a great show for children of all ages. General admission is $15 for adults and $5 for children. Purchase two adult tickets and receive a child’s ticket free. Proceeds benefit CircEsteem’s free afterschool tutoring program HomeWork & CircusWork.
CircEsteem
Saturday, December 15 and Sunday December 16
11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
 http://circesteem.org/
Alternatives Inc.,
4730 N. Sheridan Rd.
Chicago, IL 60640

FROM BOB COX
IN MEXICO

 

Dick... lots of Festivals in all parts of Mexico For Guadalupe Day... Heres a Candy vendor... sign says Giant Mega Candy... Ten Pesos (85 cents American). Nice Flash!!

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
TO
MR AND MRS BILLY MARTIN!



 

 

Why Chicago will always love the man who brought Bozo to life

 

Bob Bell as Bozo
Posted in Robert Feder | Chicago Media blog by Robert Feder on Dec 11, 2012
No, it turned out it wasn’t just childhood nostalgia or a middle-aged man’s faulty memory. Bob Bell really was as great as I’d remembered.

Watching Bozo’s Circus: The Lost Tape Sunday night evoked a flood of recollections about a show that defined growing up in Chicago for hundreds of thousands of us kids. And the legendary performer at the heart of everything was the peerless improvisational comedy actor who brought Bozo to life for nearly a quarter-century.

Seen publicly for the first time since it originally aired 41 years ago, the recently discovered and magnificently preserved episode of the WGN-Channel 9 production showed Bell in his prime. It was all there: The impeccable timing, the quick wit, the fearless showmanship, the warm-hearted interaction with children, and the occasional asides that only adults in the audience could appreciate. (When Roy Brown as Cooky takes out a cake covered with brown splotches, Bell as Bozo quips: “Looks like that could use a shot of penicillin!”)

What’s more amazing is that Bell and his castmates performed their corny vaudevillian sketches, waged pie fights, played games with the kids, marched around the studio, and made it seem like they were having nothing but fun live on television for an hour a day, five days a week, year after year, decade after decade. They treated every show as a special performance because it was special — for those in the studio audience and those at home.
read more:
http://timeoutchicago.com/arts-culture/chicago-media-blog/15930576/why-chicago-will-always-love-the-man-who-brought-bozo-to-li

Cirque Eloize iD Makes Philadelphia Premiere Beginning 12/26

 

by BWW News Desk
December 11, 2012
Tickets now on sale for Cirque Éloize iD, directed by Jeannot Painchaud and winner of the 26th Grand Prix du Conseil des Arts de Montréal for its exceptional international success in 2010.  iD will run for eight shows at the Merriam Theatre from December 26th to 30th, 2012 as part of the Broadway Season, presented by the Kimmel Center and The Shubert Organization.
Tickets ranging in price from $25 to $65 are now on sale. Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at kimmelcenter.org/broadway, at the Kimmel Center box office, Broad & Spruce Sts. (open daily 10 am to 6 pm)  or at the Merriam Theater box office, 250 S. Broad St. (open during performances only). Groups of 10 or more will receive discounts for select performances by calling 215-790-5883. Performances include:  Wednesday & Thursday evening at 7:30 pm; Friday & Saturday evening at 8:00 pm; Sunday evening at 6:30 pm; and matinees Saturday at 2:00 pm and Sunday at 1:00 pm, with an additional matinee performance on Thurs. Dec. 27 at 2:00 pm. 

Cirque Éloize iD transports the audience into the vibrant streets at the heart of a big city. The stage comes alive with the boundless energy of acrobats, break dancers, contortionists and a fearless stunt biker who perform against a kaleidoscope of eye-popping video projections drawn from science-fiction films, comic books and graffiti.
Read more: http://pennsylvania.broadwayworld.com/article/Cirque-Eloize-iD-Makes-Philadelphia-Premiere-Beginning-1226-20121211#ixzz2EmzQv1ED